What to do if you think your meter is faulty
Electricity and gas meters are reliable devices and very rarely go wrong. If you’ve received a higher bill than usual, it’s often not due to a faulty meter but due to other changes, such as using more energy than you realise. Read our energy billing support page for more information.
If you still think your meter might be faulty, please contact us. If, based on your energy consumption, we agree that your meter is faulty, we’ll advise about ways to test your meter to check.
- Electricity Meter Tests:
- Creep Test: Take a meter reading then turn off your power at the fuse. Wait 15 minutes and take another reading. The meter reading should not change as no energy is being used.
- Kettle Test: Take a meter reading. Boil your kettle a few times from scratch and take a second read. Your usage should be reflected by your meter reading.
- Gas Meter Tests:
- Burns Test: Turn off all your gas appliances and your heating. Take a meter reading. Then turn on one gas device, say a single gas ring on your hob, and wait 10 minutes. Take a second meter reading. Your reading should change but only a little.
We recommend emailing us photos of the meter reading results of these tests, so that we can help to analyse the data.
If the results of the test aren’t clear and you’re still unsure about your meter, you can ask us to book a Meter Accuracy Test:
- Electricity meter: A Meter Accuracy Test is carried out by an engineer who will visit your property and run a current through the meter to assess its accuracy. If the meter is clocking too fast by more than 2.5% or too slow by more than 3.5%, the meter is deemed faulty and will be exchanged free of charge.
If the meter is not found to be faulty, the meter will remain in place, and you will be charged £147.30 for the appointment. This is the cost-price to Good Energy.
- Gas meter: The accuracy of a gas meter cannot be assessed on site so an engineer will come and replace it with a new one. The removed meter will be tested in a specialised lab to check if it’s functioning properly.
If the meter is deemed faulty, there are no costs to you. If the meter is not found to be faulty, you will be charged £204 for the appointment. This is the cost-price to Good Energy.
Economy 7 meters
If you think your Economy 7 meter is faulty, the first thing to do is check you’re being billed for your day and night usage rates at the correct times. You can do this with a Timed Meter Readings test.
- Take a meter reading sometime between 8am and midday.
- Wait a few hours and take another meter reading sometime before 11pm.
- Only one of the two readings should change. This is your day register and reading.
If you think the readings on your bills are the wrong way around, send us an email with the photos of your timed meter readings, along with the date and time they were taken, and we’ll get this corrected for you.
Prepayment meters
For all information on prepayment meters, visit our dedicated help page.